Heating and ventilating apparatus



G. E. OTIS HEATING AND VENTILATING APPARATUS June 23, 1931.

original F11e1 Feb, 4; 1929 mvv Reileued ,lune 23, vi931 UNIT-ao STATES PATENT oFFlca GERALD E. OTIB, F IOLIN'E, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 THE 'HERMAN NEI'SOIICOBPORA- TION, 0F KOLINE, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 0F ILLINOIS HEATING AND VENTILATING APPARATUS originar xo. 1.153.151, mea

April 1, 1930, Serial No. 387,367, Med February 4, 1929. lApplication for meinue led yIay 8, 1831. c Serial No. 536,048. i

maintain a certain degree of atmospheric purity in the room. It was originally su l" posed -that the chemical chan e created in t e atmospherenof a room throug respiration by human occupants had a harmful effect and was the cause of discomfort and fatigue. It was later shown that the chemical change re- )s sulting from respiration and manifested by an increase in carbon dioxide was not harm- `ful in the average building or under ordinary circumstances, and that proportions of CO2 greatliy7 in excess of those found inthe most crow d spaces were not prejudicial to either health or comfort.

Nevertheless the practice of lmaintaining a standard of air urity continued on the basis that the so-cal ed vitiated air of crowded spaces was dangerous due to the `presence of micro-organisms given oil' in res iration.

The presence of carbon dioxide was t en held to be an index of impurity. More recent and extended scientific investigation attaches little or no importance to the micro-organic theory under usual conditions and indicates that the one and only cause of discomfort in crowded spaces is excessive atmospheric heat content.

It should be understood that ventilation is a broad subject. There are of. course instances such as in mines, where it is necessary to use resh air to change the chemical characteristics of the atmos here. There may W also be times durin epi emics when' the atmosphere of crowde spaces contains dangerous micro-organisms. There are also cases in manufacturing r and the treatment of diseases w ere the ventilation of a given space may require the introduction of rooms, intended A phere.

fresh air or demand s ecial treatment, but the ordinary problemI o ventilating spaces in modern buildings, particularl school 'class or occupancy y normal persons-is merely a case of maintaining a. proper and uniform effective or sensible temperature and this invention is directed to this class o work. Notwithstanding the fact that it is unnecessaryy to introduce large quaniities of fresh air into crowded rooms to purify them, it is nec- 'essary to remove the excess heat, and in the case of school buildings and many other instances, the most convenient and practical way to remove excess heat is to dilute oi` replace the indoor air with a certain amount of cooler outdoor' air. Practice in ventilation changes to this extent, however, that where it haspreviously been customary'to introduce a constant-amount of fresh air, de.- pending .u on conditions of occu aricy andt without re erence to weather con itions, the proper solution lies in the calibrated introductionrof fresh air in variable quantities depending upon the heat content of the indoor atmosphere and that of the outdoor atmos` Only so muchof outdoord air is needed as will accomplish the maintenance of a'proper effective temperature indoors. ,In comparatively cold weather, little'or no out of doors air is required, whereas .in comparativel warm weather a large amount may be required. Indeed, in exceptionally warm weather, it may be necessary to resort to refrigeration processes.

f In manyV cases the Ventilating apparatus heretofore used will accomplish the resultI required under the'modern science of ventilation, but they function in a very ineiicient and wasteful manner, since they preheat large 35 volumes of'cold outdoor'air in order to maintain a comfortable temperature in cold weather when it is not necessary. A

The general purpose of'this` invention is to eliminatev the waste occurring in apparat-us ing means Vwhich function to correlate the amount of outdoor air-used to the require- I tinued operation of the heating means; and l ments of the heatinr or cooling duty-of the apparatus in controlling the effective temperature. a y

Some effort has been made heretofore to conserve vfuel b providing' for the recirculation of air witliin the room, but it has been customary in these devices to use recirculated air and fresh air alternatel rather than conjointly, and even where it has been possible to m1x the fresh and recirculated air it has been necessa to do so in some predetermined relation. rllven in the most advanced ofv these devices, the relation has been selective rather than compulsory, thereby permitting of waste if not actually demanding it.-

A more particular object of the invention' is to provlde an apparatus in which the amount of fresh air admitted to the room is automatically calibrated with direct refer-.

ence to the temperature requirements of the room, and resides in providing a conditioning apparatus wherein inter-connected means are so arranged and operated as to limit the infroduction of outdoor air to an amount not in excess of that required for the purpose of decreasing the temperatureof the air within the room to be conditioned, thereby subserving the purpose of greatly reducing fuel expenditure and at the same time maintaining the comfort and well-being of theoccupants.

Another object of my invention is to provide av conditioning apparatus wherein'the heat output is entirely restricted before the introduction of cold air takes place, so that there is no wastegof artificial heat.`

A still further object of the invention is to provide a conditioning apparatus wherein provision is made for re'circulating the a1! within the room, and' while this condition prevails, gradually cutting down the heat input as required until it is negllglble and then gradually admitting out of doors fresh air and mixln the same with the recirculated air as required after theheat source has been cut down.

Another object of the invention is to lprovide'a mechanism wherein'a single primary operation controls the recirculated and out-- doors air in conjunction with means which operate automaticall te varythe heat output in accordance with sensible temperature uirements. l y V- ther and further objects of the invention will more'clearlyap ar from the description and claims herelnafter following.

' In the drawings forming a part of this specilicatiom- ,u

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through theheating a paratus contemplated .by the invention, anv showing a mechanism 1n position to exclude outdoor air and maintain con-l Figure 2 shows a similar view, wherein the l side walls 13, the casing preferably consisting of sheet metal. y

At the lower portion of the front wall there is provided a recirculating inlet 14, communicating with the air in the room to be heated, and the top wall of the casing has a discharge opening 15 through which the air is discharged by the fan 16 into the room to be heated. At the lower end of the rear wall 10 of the apparatus there is rovided an `inlet opening 16 which communicates through a duct 17 extending through the wall 18 withoutdoor air.

Mounted within the central portion of the casing is a heating means 19 preferably in the form of a radiator, having an intake valve including a seat portion 20 and afvalve head 21, the valve 21, when in engagemen with its seat, of course cutting off the birculation of heating fluid through the radiator. Secured to the valve head 21 is la reciprocable operating rod 22, said rod being pivotally connected to the lever 23 intermediate its ends, as indicated at 24, one end \of the lever being pivotally supported by a fixed member 25.- The opposite end ofthe lever 23 is normall urged downwardly to close'the valve throug y the pressure exercised ther on by the tension spring 28.

`The free end of the lever23 is disposed in i the path of an actuating element 26 to an v adapted to expand the motor upon increase in temperature beyond a predetermined degree, and to permit the same to contract when the temperature is lowered, the action of this device being well known and forming no part v0f the present invention except incombination with the'elements referred to.

The rod 27 is normally urged in an upward direction by means of a coiled compression spring 30 which bears upon a collar 31 at its upper end and against a'. bracket 32 at its lower end, the lower end of the rod 27 being adapted to project through the bracket 32 for co-operation with the damper mechanism which will now be described.-

` The damper mechanism preferably lcomprises only `a single damper indicated at 33 and pivotally secured centrally of the lower portion of the' casing, as indicated at 34, the damper being ofsucient sizeto close the openair inlet 16, as shown in- Figure 1, or the is,ioe

4 bell crank lever pivoted at 40, the arm 41of the bell crank lever being disposed in position to be engaged by the lower end 424 of the rod 27.

" rod 27, the `damper will In operation, with the parts in the position shown in full size lines in Figure 1, it will be appreciated that the heating means in the form of the radiator 19 is operating at capacity, and the air entering the cabinet through the inletopening 14 passes in contact with the radiator .and reenters the room through the discharge opening 15. This is an ideal condition for quickly heating the air in a room up to a desired point,` say Due to factors suc the occupants, or risingtemperature outdoors the tem erature in the room may rise rapidly and al'ect the thermostat 29. This will result in a downward movement of the rod 27, gradually causing approach of the valve head 21 to its seat 20, under the iniiuence of the s ring 26.

The lower empl arm 41 of the bell crank lever, and impart counter-clockwise rot-ation thereto. This will result in retractin fthe link 38 and a 'swinging of the crank 3 `onnected to the damper 33, resulting inthe damper 33 gradually opening the outdoor air inlet 16, the parts `being so proportioned that the damper 33 is not moved to open `the fresh air inlet until the valve 21 has reached its seat and cut oif the radiator. Should the temperature be such as to bring about continued operation of the motor 28 to effect further movement of the adually assume the dotted line osition in Figure 2, so as to close` the recirculating inlet 14, and erniit free passa-ge of the outdoor air throug the apparatus to discharge into. the room.

When the-temperature is reduced to such an extent that the motor isno longer expanded but begins to contract, the rod 27 be ns its upward movement, ermitting the amper. 33 to be pulled b t e spring 35 toward its position to close t e -outdoor air inlet 16; and at the conclusion `of thisI o eration, theA actuating member 26 again li s the lever 23, re-

sulting in the valve'21 leaving its'seat after Y the damper 33 hasreached its closed position, and admitting the heating uid once more tol the radiator 19.

Attention is particularly called to the fact that as soon as the damper ns to moveto o n the'outdoor air inlet, t e heat output o the radiator is cut of, and when the damper has reached an extreme position, the recirculating inlet 14 is, also closed. By this as the bodily 'heat of l of the rod 27 will engage the expedient, it'is a parent that there is a coo erative relation etween the three elements, w ich results in avoiding the necessity for the admission of large uantities of fresh air i necessary to overcome t e combined effect of the radiator and the recirculating air when it is desired to reduce the sensible temperature in a room; on the contrary, only so much out.- door air is admitted as will .reduce thetemperature'of the air in the room.

Particular attention is also called to the fact that when air is first admitted to the apparatus durin the rst travelof the damper, even thoughv t e heat out ut of the heating element has been cut ofi?, t e cold outdoor air mixes with the recirculated air and is warmed thereby to some extent, so that the danger of the admission into the room of very cold air is entirely obviated this condition obtaining until the damper has entirel closed olf the recirculating inlet 14 of the cabinet.

While I have hereinshown and described what I nowconsider the preferred manner of cari` ing out my invention, thelsame. is merely il ustrative, and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim: l

1. In an apparatus of the character de--A scribed, the combination with a housing having a recirculating inlet for indoor air and an inlet-for outdoor air, andan outlet through which said air is discharged into an indoor compartment; heating meaL s arranged within said housing, and coordinated regulating mechanism :for controlling said heating means, said indoor air inletand said outdoorair inlet, said means being adapted within its complete range of operations to progres-v ing; and controlling elements inter-connected to ensure a reduction of the heat output of said heating means in advance of a restriction of tha admission of air through said vindoor air in et. s

3. In a construction of the character de. scribed, the combination with a room to be heated; of a housing disposed within saidI vroomv and having an inlet communicating with outside' air, an inlet communicating with indoor air, and an outlet communicatin with said room; of heatin means arrange within said housing; mec anical inter-connections adalpted in predetermined order to regulate the eat output of the heating means .andthe ,ingress of air from the indoor and y outdoor air inlets respectively; and thermostatically controlled me'ans for actuating said regulating means. y

4. In a construction of the character de'- scribed, thecombination with a room to be heated ;,'ofaV housing' disposed within said room and having anl inlet communicating with outside air, an inlet communicating with indoor air, and an outlet communicating with said room; of heating means arranged within said housing; kmeans for regulating the heat output of the heating means, and ingress of air from the indoor and outdoor air inlets; and thermostaticall controlled means for actuating said regu lating means being mter-connected and so disposed as to effect, during a progressive range of operations and in the followin order,l a restriction of the heat output an the dmission of indoor air with an ultimate lin- Y crease in the admission of outdoor air.;

5. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with an enclosing housing having an outdoor air inlet, an indoor air inlet, and an outlet communicating with a room to be heated; of heating means within said housmg; damper means for openin and closing the outdoor and indoor air i ets in inverse relation: re latin means for energizin and de-energizmg sai heatlngmeans; an means inter-connecting said damper means and (said heat regulating means, and adapted .to effect a cutting down of the heat output, and a restriction of the admission of indoor air, and an increase in the admission of outdoor air inthe above prove order.- 6. In` an apparatus of the character described, the combination with an enclosing houslnghaving -an outdoor airinlet, an indoor air inlet, andan'outlet communicating with a room to be heated; of heating means disposed within said housing; damper means yfor opening and closing the outdoor and indoor air inlets'dn inverse relation; regulating means for energizing and de-energi'zing l mined sald heating-means; means inter-connecting said damper means and said heat regulating meansand adapted to e'ect by aredeterprogress1ve range of operations and in the following order, a'cutting 'down of the i, heat output and a restriction of the admisv'sin of indoor air with an ultima mostatically said damper Y te increase in the admission of outdoor air; and thercontrolled means for actuating and heat regulating means.'

v 7. In an apparatus -of the character described; the combination with va housin havin an inlet for outdoor air and an in et for in oorair, and a discharge outlet communicating with a room to be heated; heating means arranged within said housing; regulating means for controlling said heating means; a single ldamper adapted to @en and close ating means, said reguin which is to be conditioned, a

`one or the other of said indoor air and outy door air inlets; and inter-related means for actuating said heat re lating means and said dam r, and adapte progressively within a preflbgtermined rang in the following order, to restrict the effective action of said heating means and to restrict the admission of indoor air and to ultimatel increase the admission of outdoor air.

8. Ish a construction of the character described, thev combination with a room to be heated, y'of a housing having an inlet come of operations and.

municating with outside air, an inlet communicating with indoor air, and ari outlet communicating with said room, of heating means arranged within said housing, mechanicall inter-connected means for regulating the lieat loutput of the heating means,

-and ingress of air from the indoor and outfor regulating the heatpoutput of the heating means, andingressgoff, air from the indoor and outdoor inlets, and thermostatical- -ly controlled means for actuating said regulating means, inter-connected and operable to increase the heat output while air is being admitted through the indoor inlet, and to-restrict the heat output while heat is-being yadmitted through the outdoor air inlet.

10. In a construction of the character described, the combination of a room, the air ing an inlet communicating with outsi e air an inlet communicating with indoorair, and an outlet'communicatmg with said room, a heatingoradiator for heating the air for said room, valve means for regulating the heat output of said radiator, dam er mechanism for said indoor and outdoor inlets for relatively regulating ingress of air therefrom and thermostatically operated means responsive tov air ,conditions in the room for controlling said radiator regulating valve means and salddamper mechanism.

11. 'In a construction of tlie character described, the combination of a room, the air in which is to be conditioned, a housin .having an inlet communicating'with outsi e air an inlet communicating with indoor air, and an outlet communicating with said room, a

heating radiator for heating thev air for said room, valve means forfr output of said radiator,

tively regulating ingressof air therefrom,

said regulating means being' housin" hav- L ns v ias egulatingthe heat Y damper mechanism 'forsaid indoor and outdoor inlets' for relaiso sive to air conditions in the room and arto control said regulating valve means and seid dam r mechanism 1n successive relation to eac other.

In witness that I claim the foregoing, I

l have hereunto subscribed my name this 4th day of May, 1981.

- GERALD E. OTIS. 

